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TL: ALT
Chapter 82 – Day 27 of Exploration
Valkirya is such a big city, I don’t know where to go. There are three branches of the Adventurer’s Guild, and I don’t know which one is which. There were also several shops that dealt in trade goods, but when I looked inside, I saw things like gorgeous jewelry and mysterious-looking magic tools lined up, and I didn’t think they would listen to us country bumpkins who only brought something like crocodile skin.
For the time being, I stopped at a small shop that sold trade goods near the airship landing field.
“Excuse me, would you like to buy some crocodile skin?”
I asked the little old man sitting behind the counter.
“Hm? What kind of skin?”
“Crocodile. It’s the skin of a monster called a rock crocodile…”
For now, I decided to show him the item and have it appraised.
“Hey, this is the real thing, isn’t it? You can’t bring something like that in here.”
The little old man said something difficult.
“Isn’t it good?”
“I don’t know where you got it, but if something like this were to hit the market, it would cause all kinds of trouble.”
“What do you mean?”
“This is a trade shop. In other words, if you come here, you’d think you could get your hands on something like this on a regular basis, right?”
“No, I’d like to…”
If we can secure a trade route, it will also be a source of income for the demonic land. I found out that it doesn’t take long to cross the desert, and I’d like to sign a contract with a shop somewhere.
“Don’t be stupid.”
The little old man looked at Chel and Lipa behind me and asked for help. Neither Chel nor Lipa understood what he was talking about.
“I’ll ask you anyway. Who hunted this rock crocodile?”
“I don’t know exactly who it was. But me and a few others beat it up?”
When I told him the truth, the little old man began to turn his head in silence.
“Why don’t you take it to the Adventurers’ Guild for an appraisal? It would be good for your reputation, and you’d probably get a higher rank.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
However, in that case, the adventurers who heard the rumor that it came from the demonic land would come to the demonic land and die on their own, which would be a problem.
“Well, but thinking about the future, I think it would be better to turn it into a business…”
“I don’t know what kind of plan you have, but if you ask me to evaluate it, it’s our business, so I’ll do it. Do you have any other products you brought?”
“This is the smoked crocodile meat and the honey from the honey ants.”
I took the items out of the shoiko and lined them up on the counter. The ones that didn’t fit on the counter were placed on the floor.
“The quality and thickness of the smoked meat is good. The honey is also of good quality and quantity. Can you get this regularly?”
“Yes.”
The little old man put his head in his hands and said, “Sorry, wait a minute,” and went to the back.
“Did I do something wrong?”
I asked Chel as I waited.
“Because you look the part.”
It’s true; we’re still dressed as if we’d traveled through the desert. Lipa’s clothes are also terrible.
“This time, we’ll get the Adventurer’s Guild to take us in, and next time, we’ll come after we’ve bought some clothes.”
“Yeah.”
From the back, we can hear the old man and the woman arguing, saying things like “Why?” and “I’ve already given up.”
“This is no use at all. Welcome.”
The old man pushed the door open, and a plump middle-aged woman came out. Her face looked like the old man’s, so she must be related to him, but her skin was a slightly bluish color. Does she have demon blood in her?
“Grandpa, which one is it?”
The middle-aged woman spoke to the old man in a low voice.
“Is that all? Sir, do you mind if I appraise these?”
“Please do.”
The middle-aged woman wrote something on a piece of paper while looking at the things we brought. It seems she can appraise things without touching them or putting them in her mouth—some kind of ability.
“Makyo, that woman is probably a distant relative of mine.”
Chel whispered in my ear.
“Is that so?”
“If she looks at us, there is a possibility that she might collapse, so please be careful.”
“Huh? What?”
While we were talking, the middle-aged woman started to sweat on her forehead.
“No way… it’s all real. I’m sorry, where did you come from?”
After the middle-aged woman looked at us, she slowly fell backward.
I ran over and picked her up, as Chel had told me to do. Chel covered the woman’s eyes with her hand.
“It’s a lot of information, isn’t it? Close your eyes and calm down. The next time you open them, we’ll be gone. You just had a little dream today, right?”
Chel spoke fluently to the middle-aged woman. I instructed Lipa to put the goods into the backpack.
“Now, you’ll fall asleep right away.”
Chel took out a sleeping pill.
“Wait a minute!”
The middle-aged woman grabbed Chel’s hand, holding the sleeping pills.
“I’m sure you can guess, but I have an appraisal skill. If I don’t do anything, the items brought here by the customers won’t be appraised properly. Can you give me some time?”
When she said this, Chel looked at me with a “what should we do?” expression.
“The reason we came to the Bird Tribe’s land was to secure a trade route and get information about the demonic land. So far, we haven’t achieved either of those things. Why don’t we just wait for a while?”
“That’s right.”
Chel let go of the middle-aged woman.
The middle-aged woman stood up, twisted her body out of my arms that were still holding her, and then prostrated herself on the ground, pressing her forehead to the ground.
“Please forgive my grandfather’s many rude acts, though he didn’t know any better.”
“There is nothing rude about it. Please stop bowing.”
“I’m sorry, but I’ve already made my appraisal of both of you.”
“I see. No wonder you’re confused, but please don’t tell anyone.”
Chel put a gag order on the matter.
“Well, you see, I can’t really do that.”
“Please don’t tell anyone.”
Chel was stubborn. She was probably in a lot of trouble because she was cursed by the Demon King’s family.
“But what about the Margrave?”
“Oh, you found out. So you know that I’m the lord of the demonic land and that all these products are from the demonic land, too?”
“Yes.”
“Eh!?”
Lipa was surprised and fell to the ground.
“Since it would be a problem if adventurers came to the demonic land and died on their own, could you please not tell the adventurers?”
“Okay! But some adventurers and peddlers have already tried to enter the demonic land. However, none of them have returned.”
“Oh, really? We haven’t met anyone who has survived the demonic land, have we?”
“Well, no.”
Chel replied, gathering magic power in her arms. The little old man hasn’t returned from the back of the shop, so he’s probably planning to burn the whole place down if anything happens. This is bad.
“Can I ask you a few questions?”
“If you don’t mind if I ask you some questions later.”
“That’s fine. How did you become the lord of the demonic land?”
“I bought the demonic land. The whole thing. It was a real estate scam, but people gathered, and the king of Estinia recognized me.”
I’m not lying. I’m just not saying how many people gathered.
“Is that so? How did you get here to Cliff Garuda?”
“I ran.”
“…With your own legs?”
“It took about two days from our base. I thought it would take longer in the desert, but it was surprisingly fast. This smoked meat is quite fresh, too.”
“Is that true? As you said earlier, is it true that the purpose of your visit to Cliff Garuda was to secure the trade routes and get information about the demonic land?”
“That’s right. The demonic land has been left alone for about 100 years, so its development has not progressed very far. It’s not even possible to excavate the ruins. That’s why I wanted to gather information about the demonic land from the outside while trading. I really don’t have any other intentions.”
“I see.”
The middle-aged woman finally seemed to have calmed down and sat down on the ground.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Yes, if I can answer it.”
“Even though airships have developed so much, why doesn’t Cliff Garuda have diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Estinia?”
“It’s because we can’t defeat the monsters of the demonic land.”
The middle-aged woman showed me a map and explained. To get from Cliff Garuda to the Kingdom of Estinia, you either have to go through the sky of the demonic land or cross the sea with its many reefs. Both are blocked by powerful monsters.
“What about Pharrell Jails, who has a statue erected in his honor?”
“He was a follower of an adventurer who was in the demonic land, and it is thanks to Pharrell-sama that this country has developed to this extent.”
“Can you tell me more about that?”
“It is said that all the technology related to flying was brought back from the demonic land by Pharrell-sama. The same goes for the magical tools. It is said that all of them, except for those made in the Kingdom of Meiju, came from the demonic land.”
“What is the Meiju Kingdom?”
“It’s the name of the country of the demon race. Didn’t I say that before?”
Chel explained.
“I think I heard that before. I see, so the demonic land is full of useful technology. Are there any documents or records left?”
“There are, but there’s something more important…”
“What?”
“It’s a story from over a thousand years ago, but the Cliff Garuda was part of the demonic land. If the Lord of the demonic land has appeared…”
“What? So all the birdmen of the Cliff Garuda are subjects of the demonic land? But the country that existed in the demonic land 1000 years ago has collapsed, so won’t Cliff Garuda be recognized as a country as it is?”
“I see. Pharrell-sama said that the inhabitants of the demonic land are the masters of the bird people.”
“That means I’m the master too, right?”
Chel said as she kept a watchful eye on the outside through the window.
“Even if you’re the master, that just means more responsibility, right? That’s a pain. More than that, we want information about Midgard and a spellbook of space-time magic to be able to compete with the giant magical beast, but can we trade for these items?”
It seemed like it was getting a little noisy outside, so we decided to hurry up and come to a conclusion.
“There are some legends about the history of the demonic land, although they are only fragments, so it will take some time, but I think we can help. I’ve never seen or heard of any space-time magic.”
“I see. Then it would be helpful if you could gather as much information as possible about the demonic land. I think it would be good if we could trade it for some useful magic tools.”
“I understand! I’ll prepare as much as I can.”
“Makyo, someone’s coming!”
Outside the window, the birdmen, who looked like guards, began to gather. The residents were also pointing at us.
“It seems that my grandfather has been spreading rumors about you.”
“So, should we run away for now?”
“Yes, I apologize again and again for our rudeness! The back door is that way!”
The middle-aged woman showed us the back door.
“Oh, by the way, I didn’t ask your name.”
“It’s Xueni!”
“Well, Xueni, nice to meet you!”
With that, the three of us went out the back door and into the inn.
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